The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1887-03-11

MAIN OFFICE. -
It is not SO easy to determine where to send
the following:
DR.. Jackson, Our Home on the Hillside, New
York.
There is one clerk in the office who remem-
bers that the sanitarium at Dansville, N. Y,
is sometimes called "Our Home on the Hill
side" and there DR.. jackson is found.
Sometimes letter writers make very strange
slips. A letter is addressed to:
Mr. Matthew Brown, Niagara, Prat Co., Kansas.
AS there is no such place as Niagara in Kan
sas the letter is sent to Saratoga, Pratt coun-
ty, with q special request to the postmaster at
that place for information as to where mail
addressed Niagara" should be sent. Matthew
Brown lives in Saratoga, the postmaster
knows him, the letter is delivered, and the
dead letter Office in due time notified of the
fact.
The ingenuity of the cmyloyes is sometimes
taxed to the utmost, as in this letter: .
Mrs Ellen Clark, care Ida NJ. Jones, Brunswick.
As there is no state given, this letter soon
finds its way 10 the dead letter office. As the
words "care Ida NJ Jones" are not directly
under the principal address, it is taken for
granted that they refer to some sailing vessel
and that it was sent from New York where it
was postmarked, to some port OIL the Allan
tic coast. The only Brunswick that can be
found on the coast is in Georgia. The letter
is sent there, and Mrs. Ellen Clark receives it,
A letter addressed:
Miss Annie Glennon. 4t3 St Mary'S street, New
York City,
Can find neither street nor person in the
metropolis. There is no such street in New
York state, nor indeed, i'll any city in the
Union except SanAntonio, Tex. There are
plenty of streets named St Mary, but none
named ST. Mary's. The letter is sent to San
Antonio and delivered to Miss Glennon, ut
4l3 St. Mary's street
A letter was addressed to
Miss nj. f. Adams, care Drexel, Morgan & Co,
London, England.
Miss Adams having left London, this was
forwarded by Drexel, Morgan & Co. to her
supposed address in New York city, I'll
North Eighth street. There being no North
Eighth street in New York city, it was sent
to the dead letter office. As Eighth street,
in Philadelphia runs north and south, the
letter was sent there, and Miss Adams was
found at III.
Very often letters find their proper destina-
tion purely by accident For instance, one
came to the office short time ago addressed:
Miss Minnie b. Hannghan, LAUGHS Hotel. N. Y.
There happened to be clerk in the office
who remembered that there was a LAUGHS
hotel at Long Branch, N. j., and there the
letter found Miss Hannighan.
Perhaps the funniest incident of the kind is
connected with a letter addressed:
Miss Maggie Smith, L. o. Box 139, Virginia.
The postInark OH this letter is New York,
and tue handwriting is evidently that of
person of culture. An expert i'll the dead
letter office had by chance two years pre-
viously received letter from Miss Maggie
Smith, of Alexandria, Va, making inquiries
with regard to French governess whom she
wished to send to her sister in New York At
q venture the letter is sent to Miss Maggie
Smith. of Alexandria. for whom the writer
intended it,
1t seems strange that the postmaster at De-
catur, Ga. should not have known where to
send a letter addressed
Miss II. E. Alexander, E. v.
But he did not, and it came TO the dead let
ter Office. Tho ready witted clerk into whose
hands it fell knew, what the postmaster did
not, that Z. v. stood for ell vile. The letter
was returned to Decatur, and delivered to the
addressec.
Often letters are received where the writer
has forgotten to complete the address. Here
is one:
Phil Dickel, 25l7F
The clew by which the proper destination
of this letter was found seems queer, but it is
Tho writer began the address too
far to tho left if ho intended to write 2517 Il
street, and os there is no such number OH
street in Washington, it was taken for granted
that the writer had started to write some
name and had forgotten to finish it. There
are very few streets in the United States that
have SO high number as 2517 Among them
is Franklin avenue, in Philadelphia, and the
letter was sent there and found Mr. Dickel.
One of the best examples of this ablind
reading" as it is called, is the following:
Miss Margaret Jopling. No. Calserly Parade,
Tunbri
This letter bore five cent stamp. The in
ference of course was that it was destined for
some foreign place. It was sent to Tunbridge,
Wales. which was where the writer intended
it to go.
One day letter came to the office marked:
Mr. Thomas Madden, st. Francis River, Ark.
In care of Bridge Watchnlan.
There is no such place as st. Francis River
in Arkansas, and while the handwriting of
SNAA~ HuieS Acs51DiO sAiA0 hCeAes ~
seemed impossible to say where this letter
should go. There is st. Francis river in
Arkansas, which is three or four hundred
miles long. Where the Memphis and Missouri
River railroad crosses it there is q notably
long bridge The letter was sent to watch
man on this bridge at venture It proved
to be the right place.
Some addresses are found in the most ar
bitrary way imaginable. A letter addressed to
1151 Anne ST., New Jersey,
would have had a mighty poor chance of
reaching its destination had it not been
known in the Office that Camden is the only
,ity in that state, out of eight that have
Anne streets, where the numbers run as high
IS 1151. The only Virginia street in New
York state is in Buffalo. The only Selier-
nerhorn street in the United States is in
Brooklyn; the only Hopper street in the
United States is in Utica. A knowledge of
these facts has saved many letter from
destruction. OF course q knowledge of
foreign languages is a necessity with many of
he employees of the dead letter Office. a let
Ter came there the other day addressed to
cuyo Iiucso, Fla
This caused good deal of study until clerk
who knew Spanish looked at it and recog-
lized it as Castiliap for Key West.
The work on this kind of mail is called
blind rcstling,n and most of it is ione by